Thursday, 02 September 2010

'Keep your hands off council housing'

19/06/2009

Here we go again - another attack on our security of tenure. Is it from yet another politician or greedy developer lining up behind the right-wing lobby to kick us out of our homes? No, this time it’s the Tenant Services Authority.

Defend Council Housing warned against having an unaccountable regulator from the beginning. We are often accused of being cynical - but it turns out we’re not cynical enough.

The TSA wants to get its hands on the regulation of council housing too. Fortunately, our secure tenancies are protected by law and an unelected quango cannot just change them with a wave of their wand - however much they would like to.

Surely we don’t need to state yet again that if you give people time-limited or means-tested tenancies, all you do is increase the concentration of social problems on estates?

Most of the housing ministers we’ve had in the last few years have grasped the importance of security of tenure and affordable rents - including the latest, John Healey. Maybe he needs to make the government’s position clear to the TSA.

Tenants are not stupid. We know the attack on secure tenancies is all about taking land out of public ownership and making our homes available to the private sector to make a profit out of.

We value our rights, and, as the recent no vote on stock transfer in South Cambridgeshire shows, we’re prepared to fight to keep them.

We don’t want an unaccountable, unelected quango to be responsible for regulating our homes. Keep your sticky hands off council housing.

Lesley Carty, Defend Council Housing

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